Tuesday, February 16, 2016

It has long been established that people who earn lower
incomes live measurably shorter lives than their better-off counterparts. New findings indicate that the “longevity gap” between the rich and the poor in the
United States has grown dramatically wider in recent years.

Researchers Barry Bosworth, Gary Burtless, and Kan Zhang
analyzed data from the Census Bureau’s Survey of Income and Program
Participation, Social Security Administration, and Health and Retirement Study
to provide details about the incomes and lives of over 100,000 men and women
born between 1910 and 1950. According to their findings, “the mortality
differential is growing over time.”

The average life expectancy of men who were born in 1920,
survived to age 50 and are at the top 10 percent of earners is 79.3 years.
Their counterparts in the bottom 10 percent are expected on average to live
five years fewer, the study finds.

In 1940 and you find a longevity gap of 12 years between the
top and bottom 10 percent.

In 1950, now a 14-year difference in life expectancy.

It's no different for female populations. Among women born
in 1920 who survived to age 50, the longevity gap was 4.7 years. That widened
to a gulf of 13 years for those born in 1950.

For the lowest earners, average life expectancy is barely
improving. Researchers found that the bottom 10 percent of male earners born in
1920 are expected to live to 72.9 years. That same demographic born in 1950 is
expected live to the age of 73.6 on average. Women in the lowest income group,
meanwhile, made “no gain at all” in life expectancy, the researchers concluded.
Top earners, in contrast, saw an improvement of 6.4 years. The Brookings study does
not include an in-depth analysis of race, other studies show a profound life
expectancy gap between white and black people in the United States. One study
published by Health Affairs in 2014 found that the gulf has diminished slightly
between 1990 and 2009. However, it remains wide: at 5.4 years for males and 3.8
years for females.